The subject matter described herein relates generally to the field of containers. In particular, the subject matter described herein relates to food containers. The food containers may be used for storing food, holding food at a particular temperature, cooling food, humidifying food, rethermalizing food, warming food, and/or cooking food.
A wide variety of food containers are used to house and display food in places such as convenience stores, restaurants, etc. Depending on the type of food, these containers may be heated, cooled, and/or humidified to prevent the food from becoming cold and/or hard, thus making the food more appealing to consumers. For example, the containers may be used to house and display a wide variety of foods such as chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. In other applications, the containers may be used to hold food at elevated temperature or to cook food.
A solid barrier such as a door may be used to isolate the interior of the container from the exterior environment. The door prevents the transfer of heat and/or humidity between the interior of the container and the exterior environment. The door is usually hinged on one side so that it can be opened and closed to provide access to the interior of the container. Unfortunately, continual opening and closing of the door may result in a loss of productivity and efficiency on the part of the persons using the containers. Users often desire to quickly remove items from the containers. For example, in a fast food setting, a food preparer may want to be able to quickly access food components (e.g., hot dog buns, hot dogs) to prepare the finished food product (e.g., a hot dog in the bun with desired toppings). In other situations, the container may be provided with an opening that does not include a barrier between the exterior environment and the interior of the container. This arrangement results in a loss of efficiency due to excess heating, cooling, and/or humidifying.
To remedy these problems, an air curtain may be used to form a barrier between the exterior environment and the interior of the container. However, in food containers that utilize an air curtain barrier, substantially all of the heated and/or humidified air is first used to form the air curtain before being delivered to the interior of the container. In certain food container configurations, this may lead to undesirable consequences. For example, in some food containers that utilize an air curtain barrier, it may be difficult to maintain the interior of the container at a substantially uniform temperature. This difficulty is particularly apparent as the size, and specifically the height, of the food container is increased. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved food container for housing items such as food.
It should be understood that the claims define the scope of the subject matter for which protection is sought, regardless of whether any of the aforementioned challenges are overcome by the subject matter covered by the claims. Also, the terms recited in the claims should be given their ordinary and customary meaning as would be recognized by those of skill in the art, except, to the extent a term is used herein in a manner more expansive than its ordinary and customary meaning, the term should be given its ordinary and customary meaning plus the additional expansive meaning, or except if a term has been explicitly defined to have a different meaning by reciting the term followed by the phase “as used herein shall mean” or similar language. Accordingly, the claims are not tied to any particular embodiment, feature, or combination of features other than those explicitly recited in the claims.